Mike Mills

Mike Mills
Mills performing with R.E.M. in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Michael Edward Mills
Born	(1958-12-17) December 17, 1958 (age 58) Orange County, California, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, folk rock,college rock, jangle pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, music producer
Instruments	Bass guitar, vocals, guitar, piano, accordion, percussion
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	R.E.M., Hindu Love Gods, The Backbeat Band, Automatic Baby, The Baseball Project, Big Star's Third

Michael Edward "Mike" Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions.

Michael Edward Mills was born in Orange County, California and moved to Macon, Georgia when he was 10 years old. Mills met Bill Berry, who would later be his bandmate in R.E.M., in Macon.

Mills and Bill Berry started out in bands together. Early projects included the band Shadowfax (later called The Back Door Band).

Mills attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, which is where R.E.M. formed.

Mills is credited with being the chief composer behind many of R.E.M.'s songs, including "Nightswimming", "Find the River", "At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "Wendell Gee", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine" and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?". In particular, R.E.M.'s 2004 album Around the Sun was heavily shaped by Mills' piano and keyboard contributions.

Mills is also responsible for the prominent backing vocal and harmony parts found within the band's back catalogue, with his vocal contributions arguably being most noticeable on 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant and 2008's Accelerate. In addition to providing backing vocals, he has also sung lead vocals on the songs "Texarkana", "Near Wild Heaven", The Clique cover "Superman" and The Troggs cover "Love is All Around".